The perpetrators responsible for contaminating the Druzhba (Friendship) pipeline have been identified Most of them have been arrested. The consequences of injecting poor-quality oil became another topic for a government meeting. The contaminated fuel dealt a significant blow to the supply of Russian oil to Europe.
We have our observer Tatiana Remezova in the studio.
- Tatiana, who are those people and why did they spoil the Druzhba?
- Ernest, they tried to conceal fuel thefts by injecting contaminated oil into the pipeline. Minister of Energy Novak reported in detail to the prime minister on the revealed scheme and the conclusions. Today’s cabinet meeting was preceded by a meeting between Vladimir Putin and the head of Transneft, the operator of Druzhba. A week ago, the president demanded to find the perpetrators and to increase control at the inlet of the pipeline.
Vladimir Putin: "Isn't there some kind of company control when oil is injected into the pipeline system? You see, they swindled and we suffered huge economic, material, and image damage. I mean the self-control isn't enough then. The system needs to be changed".
Druzhba, which was put into operation 55 years ago, is the world's largest oil pipeline system. There are about 5,500 miles of pipes and about 50 pumping stations. Russia's main export pipeline pumps over 60 million tons of crude per year. It turns out that if the system could get about 5 million tons or 30 million barrels of contaminated oil, it makes a month capacity of the whole pipeline. The pipeline sections in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and Poland were affected.
Druzhba starts near Almetyevsk and then runs through nine Russian regions. The route goes through Samara, Bryansk, up to Mozyr, and then it divides into two routes — the northern and the southern ones. The contamination source is located in Lopatino, Samara Oblast.
Alexander Novak, Minister of Energy: "The investigation revealed a group of companies engaged in illegal activities and the delivery of substandard oil to the system by using organochlorine compounds in above-normal quantities. The audit records have been referred to the General Prosecutor's Office. A complex of operational activities and investigative actions by the FSB and the Investigative Committee of Russia is underway. A criminal case has been initiated".
Dmitry Medvedev: "I would ask to transfer all materials to law enforcement agencies in order to draw conclusions in terms of personal responsibility for the incident itself".
After just a couple of hours, the Investigation Committee reported that four suspects have been arrested and that two more are on the wanted list.
Svetlana Petrenko, Investigative Committee Spokesperson: "From August of 2018 to April of 2019, six suspects, according to investigators, committed multiple thefts of oil worth at least $15,000. Then, to hide the theft, several suspects put the oil with the addition of chlorine-containing compounds into the oil discharge unit located near Nikolaevka, Volzhsky District".
This is the crime scene. The names of the arrested have been revealed: Svetlana Balabay, the general director of Nefteperevalalka, LLC her deputy, Rustam Khusnutdinov, Vladimir Zhogolev, the general director of Petroneft Active, LLC, and Sergey Balandin, the deputy director of Magistral, LLC.
- Tatiana, can we restore the Druzhba? If so, how soon can it be done?
- The elimination of the contamination is underway. Certified oil was delivered to Belarus on May 4th. On May 6th, deliveries to Europe began. In the near future, the fuel will go to Poland and the port of Ust-Luga. Now, the chlorine content will be checked not once every decade, but daily.
- Thank you, Tatiana. It was our observer Tatiana Remezova.
